April 2008
56 posts
How Popcorn Pops
Popcorn was first discovered by the native Americans, who believed that the popping noise was that of an angry god who escaped the kernel. This factoid is from Wikipedia, which doesn’t cite. Compare above factoid with mine: Popcorn was discovered in a pantry, next to the microwave, by a boy, who believed that the popping noise was that of molecules cooped up in the kernel, agitated to...
Va. GOP Rallies Behind McDonnell-Bolling Ticket →
Tim Craig, blogger for washingtonpost.com, is reporting that the Virginia GOP has backed Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling for the Commonwealth’s gubernatorial races in 2009. McDonnell will be running for governor and Bolling will be running as an incumbent.
“They come with amazing perspectives, amazing insights that western countries...”
– Goraf Shori (sp?), an Indian, talking about American-Born Confused Desis (ABCDs) or young Indians born abroad who return to India to rediscover their “Indian-ness.”
Metro urges walkways between stations to help ease... →
Free Tumblr Themes →
Teaching Online Journalism » Choose your CMS:... →
News Aggregation - The Downfall of Web Journalism →
What is an online journalist? →
Can Blogs Do Journalism? →
WatchRain responds to Colbert. Colbert challenges Rain.
“It turns out that news aggregation, that is the ‘meta role of...”
– Marisa Peacock, whose words on the goods and the bads of web-based journalism have just been aggregated and repackaged.
“At its most basic, the reporting may at times be little more than value-added...”
– Job posting on Gawker.com, describing both what journalistic blogging tends to be (value-adding, cross-linking, re-tagging) and the crowdsourced peer-to-peer journalism the web generation been imagining yet not quite realizing.
“It is still seven months before Election Day, but already senior Democrats are...”
– Manu Raju, reporting that Democrats are “backing away from healthcare reform promises made by their two presidential candidates.”
Making an Old Home Green →
NPR’s All Things Considered takes a (9-minute audio) tour of an old townhouse in northwest D.C. renovated by Amy Levin for stringent certification with the U.S. Green Building Council. Levin even furnished her home with furniture made from fallen trees from Montgomery County, Md., which is a jurisdiction considering a green mandate on new home construction, according to the Washington Post.
Assessing Strength of Contenders in Swing States →
The New York Times is calling Virginia a swing state, despite the Commonwealth’s long streak of awarding its electoral votes to Republican presidential candidates. Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) swept the “Potomac primaries” (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) in February, and Virginia governor Tim Kaine (D) campaigned for Obama before the Pennsylvania primary April...
High-calorie diet linked to boys →
A woman’s diet around the time of conception may influence the gender of her baby, research suggests.
Clinton’s New Favorite Metric →
When Clinton realized she couldnât win the pledged-delegate count, it became about the popular vote. When that gap widened, it became about âbig states.â Now itâs back to being about the…
Tastes Like Chicken →
Growing meat without growing animals.
Google Apps and Wordpress Domain Mapping,... →
If you didn’t like the Colombia FTA, try S. Korea →
Seafood Selector →
The Environmental Defense Fund has compiled health and ecological information for seafood consumers, available as wallet-sized print-and-fold cards. EDF marine scientist Tim Fitzgerald speaks about which fish are fit to feed on in restaurants or from the supermarket in a 14-minute interview on Fresh Air. The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides similar information tailored by region, also printable as...
FreshBooks →
Web app that tracks time and provides invoices for clients.
“A traditional shoe with a lot of cushioning is designed to allow you to walk...”
– Adam Sternbergh, explaining why You Walk Wrong.
A Switch on the Tracks: Railroads Roar Ahead:... →
“By measuring young male traders’ hormone levels as they brokered...”
– Rob Stein, reporting for The Washington Post.
Why Bother? →
Looking for a few good reasons to go green.
“One of our core philosophies at Google is that users’ data should never be...”
– Keith Coleman, Gmail Product Manager, talking about Gmail’s free IMAP access.
Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press →
The BBC documentary about the Gutenberg Press have been posted on YouTube in six parts.
Watch
Ubuntu and Open Source as Community Builders →
Podcasted primer on Ubuntu and open-source software for non-geeks as well as exploring the community building aspects of this kind of software that I haven’t listened to because my office computer doesn’t recognize the audio file format.
Me know. Me have problem. →
“So you’re saying the state is going to reject us? It’s Thomas...”
– Jason Talley, videographer who posted videos of his friend being arrested for dancing at the Jefferson Memorial. The DCist links to the videos and takes the stance that the U.S. Park Police overreacted. The Washington Post points out that dancing is in fact not allowed at hallowed memorials.
Email Harvester Robots, Spam and Email Obfuscation →
Five Best GTD Applications →
Remember the Milk, Microsoft Outlook, ThinkingRock, OmniFocus, and Pen/Paper.
Bethesda Start-Up Makes Writing a Little Less... →
By adopting the growing crowd-sourcing model, which aims to tap into the wisdom of a wide range of people, and the collaborative style of Wikipedia entries, WEbook hopes to help frustrated writers realize their potential.
WatchColbert vs. Rain, again.
Capital Area eCycling Event →
Join the EPA in celebration of Earth Day as they host the 2nd annual Capital Area eCycling event. Bring your unwanted computer and computer-related equipment for free recycling on Sunday, April 20,…
How to Repair Bicycles →
Learn how to repair bicycles, in this free (but ad-supported) bike repair video series by Expert Village.
“Like the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, which...”
– Jack Shafer, writing on the reopening of the Newseum for Slate.
Asian Inflation Begins to Sting U.S. Shoppers →
“We’re obviously being influenced by the things around us and so we should...”
– Gavan Fitzsimons, business professor at Duke University, talking about his study that finds that Apple’s logo stimulates brains creatively.
“The purpose of the movement is to chill the willingness of countries to enact...”
– William Patry, copyright expert, blogging on new tactics by Big Content to counter reformation of intellectual property laws. Via Ars Technica.
Windows driver examples →
Includes SwapFs, which allows Windows NT/2000/XP to use a Linux swap partition for temporary storage, like a RAM-disk.
“People have pulled money out of the economy [during the subprime crisis]....”
– Michael Greenberger, professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, speaking about how financiers bet the subprime mortgages wouldn’t be paid off and profitted handsomely on Fresh Air [40 minute interview].
WatchJon Stewart reviews Congressional hearings with Big Oil.